Blk Jks Courtesy of Demonica Orozco

Everywhere you turn these days, it seems that the indie rock world is exploring African sounds. Labels like Dead Oceans, Secretly Canadian and True Panther have also begun releasing new recordings by African musicians, those acts have begun playing American gigs, and African music regularly gets attention on the indie-minded Web sites of Pitchfork, Mojo and The Fader...Part of the joy of discovery for such music fans is the sheer variety of styles to be found on a continent that has a billion people living in more than 50 countries and is the ancestral home of American genres like jazz and the blues. The South African quartet known as Blk Jks favors a heavy rock sound, at times reminiscent of King Crimson, while the music of the Good Ones, whose “Kigali Y’ Izahabu” has just been released on Dead Oceans, is simplicity itself: voices and unamplified guitars, singing and playing in tuneful harmony.